Atriplex argentea
Atriplex garrettii
maidenhair spleenwort, silver orach, silver orache, silver saltbush, silverscale, silverscale orache, silverscale saltbush, silvery orache
Garrett's saltbush
often opposite proximally, petiolate or distal bracteate ones subsessile, blade lance-ovate, lanceolate, deltoid, or cordate, 5–75 × 4–50(–75) mm, base subhastate or obtuse to acute, margin entire or essentially so, sometimes closely repand-dentate, apex obtuse to acute or rounded, scurfy (glabrous).
opposite or subopposite proximally, or some alternate distally;
petiole 2–6 mm;
blade yellow green, ovate to obovate, elliptic, or orbiculate, 8–55 × 6–32 mm, base obtuse to cuneate, margin entire or repand-dentate, apex rounded to acute, sparingly scurfy.
in axillary glomerules and terminal, interrupted spikes.
borne in distal axils, or in short dense spikes or panicles, or intermixed with pistillate, with 4–5-parted calyx.
brown to tan or yellow, in clusters 2–4 mm wide, on panicles 2–10(–15) cm.
in spikes or spicate panicles 4–30 cm.
brown, 1.5–2 mm wide;
radicle superior or lateral.
brown, 2 mm wide.
bracteoles sessile, subsessile, or stipitate (stipe 0.5–5 mm), cuneate-orbicular, (2.5–)4–11.2 × 2–8.8(–14) mm, margin foliaceous below apex, subentire or dentate to laciniate, face smooth, tuberculate, or crested, processes sometimes again toothed, teeth then aligned with axis of process.
bracteoles sessile or on stipes to 7 mm, body 4-winged, 6–10 mm and wide, toothed apically, surface smooth, reticulate, or with flattened processes, wings 3–4 mm wide.
= 18, 36, 54.
= 18.
Atriplex argentea
Atriplex garrettii
Varieties 5 (5 in the flora).
Herbarium materials have tended to represent a catchall for annual specimens not readily assignable to other taxa. Indeed, the distinguishing features of the Atriplex argentea complex are shared singly and often in combination with other taxa. Only by use of combinations of features can this taxon be defined. Those features, with much variation, center around the broad, typically ovate to deltoid leaf blades (often definitely 3-veined) and more-or-less compressed, sessile to subsessile (or short stipitate), fruiting bracteoles on which the marginal processes, or teeth, are mainly aligned with the plane compression, and with the faces quite smooth to variously appendaged. Still some specimens are apparently intermediate with other species, especially with the closely allied A. saccaria, with which it is at least partially sympatric.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Plants low, rounded, mainly 1-3(-4.5) dm; fruiting bracteoles sessile or rarely some short stipitate, the appendages mainly acuminate or acute-attenuate; Nevada and adjacent se California, se Oregon | → 2 |
1. Plants rather strict and often taller, mainly 2-4(-5) dm; fruiting bracteoles, at least some, short stipitate; appendages acute to less commonly acuminate to attenuate; other distribution | → 3 |
2. Leaf blades typically, but not always, constricted to the petiole; herbage merely scurfy, or with elongate trichomes mainly on the fruiting bracteoles; Nevada (except the southern part), and adjacent se California and se Oregon | var. hillmanii |
2. Leaf blades typically, if not always, cuneate to a winged petiole or merely sessile base; herbage copiously covered with elongate trichomes throughout, or mostly on the stems and fruiting bracteoles; Nye County, Nevada and adjacent Inyo County, California | var. longitrichoma |
3. Leaf blades elliptic to oval, attenuate to a cuneate base; sw Colorado, se Utah, and nw New Mexico | var. rydbergii |
3. Leaf blades triangular-ovate to oval, base broadly obtuse to acute or less commonly cuneate; various or other distribution | → 4 |
4. Distal leaves short petiolate; proximalmost leaves alternate; plants mostly less than 4 dm; British Columbia to Manitoba, s through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Idaho, Utah, e Nevada, Colorado, w Kansas, ne Arizona, nw New Mexico | var. argentea |
4. Distal leaves sessile; proximalmost leaves opposite; plants mostly over 4 dm; California, s Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, w Oklahoma, w and n Texas | var. mohavensis |
1. Plants mainly 2-6 dm; leaves 9 or fewer on first flowering branch of current growth; bract wings denticulate; staminate flowers commonly brown; talus slopes in canyons of the Colorado River, se Utah | var. garrettii |
1. Plants mainly 5-10 dm; leaves 7 or more on first flowering branch of current growth; bract wings deeply denticulate; staminate flowers yellow; vicinity of Navajo Bridge and Lee’s Ferry, Arizona | var. navajoensis |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
KS Wildflowers, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
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